undefined | Better HN

0 pointstines1y ago0 comments

1. So, don't do that? The fact that an organization was involved 30 years ago in something bad doesn't mean we need to take it apart. It may do good things too. Every branch of government has done something bad. You've done something bad. We don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Let's work on improving the world around us, not destroying it.

2. You're answering a question that wasn't asked. The question was, essentially, what USAid did for the OP, and why he would miss it. Food kitchens haven't done anything for me either, so why not get rid of them?

3. This wasn't the reason given for shutting USAid down. No concrete reason was given, just vague references and accusations that could refer to anything or nothing.

0 comments

3 comments · 1 top-level

drysine1y ago· 2 in thread

>The fact that an organization was involved 30 years ago in something bad doesn't mean

  There is a long-standing history of ties between USAID and the CIA. During the Cold War, they worked together in training police forces all across the world, notably in Latin America, where the exercises allegedly included techniques of torture. USAID also served as cover for various covert activities, especially during the Vietnam War. After the Cold War, according to Weiner, the agency funded democracy-building programs in the former Soviet Union, “sometimes on its own, sometimes in concert with the CIA.” As recently as 10 years ago, it used its pro-democracy rubric to help foment anti-regime propaganda in Cuba.

  Throughout this period, as was the case with U.S. embassies generally, USAID was used as a front for CIA officers, though, Weiner says, “much less frequently now than in the old days.” [0]

[0] https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/02/usaid-donald-tru...

tinesOP1y ago

Sounds like a problem with the CIA, not USAid. But that quote is self-defeating for your argument if it happens "much less frequently now than in the old days." Obviously it shouldn't ever happen, but like, just make it never happen. It's so obvious that these post-hoc justifications are just a smokescreen for what's really going on, which is the looting of the state for private interests.

drysine1y ago

>But that quote is self-defeating for your argument if it happens "much less frequently now than in the old days."

And how does he know that? Not enough time has passed for the things to get leaked or declassified. I included this sentence just for the sake of completeness of the quotation.

My argument was that forced sterilization was not an isolated incident, but just one of many cases of CIA's operations under the cover of USAID. One might argue that other CIA operations were benign, but I think it would be a hard point to make.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse